How many household items are super-poisonous?

Factual Questions
1

I grabbed a handful of potato chips and when I put one in my mouth I noticed a horrible bitter taste. Earlier today I did a little yardwork and sprayed some Roundup, and guess I didn’t wash my hands well enough apparently. Not a great thing to eat poison in general, but it was such a tiny amount, to transfer from washed fingers to food to my mouth, I’m not concerned.

But It got me thinking. Is there anything in the average house that would be dangerous in an amount that small(excluding allergic reactions)? I obviously don’t keep Polonium -210, or syringes of viper venom around the house, or anything ridiculous. Is there any common household stuff that is dangerous in a fraction of a drop?

2

There are plenty of common garden plants that are absolutely lethal, some are so dangerous that it is not a good idea to handle the corms bare handed.

3

Yeah, oleander and azaleas are the two that come to mind that are very common and very poisonous, especially to children.

4

Some drugs can kill in very small doses if you’re not supposed to be taking them. Digoxin is the first one that comes to mind, mainly because it’s so commonly used. It’s one of the main reason why children are more likely to be poisoned at their grandparents’ houses than at their own homes.

Bleach and ammonia are relatively harmless when used separately, but give off deadly gas when mixed.

5

Actually the bitter taste could have come from the potatoes themselves. Happens sometimes that quality control did not remove an ugly chip that could have been green or burnt.

6

There was a thread on an imageboard teaching how to make crystals at home. Among the ingredients there was salt, water, ammonia and bleach. The person would have to mix them together and blow the mixture through a straw. and it seems that a guy was stupid enough to attempt this and he ended up on ER.

7

Off the top of my head but inspired by a career in the ED:

Ingestion of small amounts of alkali can burn the esophagus, but not “fractions of a drop.”

A surprisingly small amount of ingestion hydrocarbons of various types can give a nasty aspiration pneumonia, esp at the toddler level. For example, a really oily perfume can give a baby’s lungs fits if they breathe in a few drops they tried to drink.

Meds, of course.

Mercury batteries…maybe.

Mercury in a thermometer if you managed to roast it and inhale the vapors; pretty benign if it’s just elemental mercury you swallow…

Botulinum toxin for babies if you can your own goods or buy some crappy ones (or get into some bad honey)…

Methanol…ethylene glycol…

All the usual stuff, but nothing comes to mind that’s horribly toxic in teeny tiny doses. However I’m sure someone will come along with a nicer list. Just some starter ideas.

Helpful link?

8

Small magnets if more than one is swallowed, will kill you (or at least there’s the possibility of tearing holes in your colon).

9

General rule: a little is ok, too much kills. Water poisoning is a common occurrence.